By Wuwei Wang, UCL Placement Student

It was my first time participating in the M+H Show as well as my first time representing GEM at the event. This experience was not only an opportunity to showcase our work, but also a valuable learning journey. My main responsibilities included assisting the GEM team with setting up the stand and introducing visitors to our organisation’s mission, courses, membership benefits, and how the GEM platform helps connect the wider museum, heritage and learning community. I had an opportunity to engage with many students who, like myself, were at a similar stage in their studies or job search. I recommended suitable learning opportunities based on their interests and aspirations, and explained how GEM can support them in developing professional skills and expanding their networks.

Attending the 2025 Museums + Heritage Show was an incredibly inspiring experience that prompted me to rethink the role and future direction of museums in contemporary society. As one of the UK’s most influential professional heritage events, the M+H Show brought together cultural institutions, educational organisations and innovation-driven companies from around the world. The programme covered a wide range of forward-looking themes, including exhibition design, digital transformation, educational innovation, community engagement, inclusivity and sustainable development.

During the show, I attended multiple lectures and forums that addressed the current challenges and developments faced by cultural institutions. One particularly memorable session was GEM’s talk on “Inclusive Career Pathways in Museums and Heritage”, where speakers shared strategies for building fairer and more open career opportunities for young people and marginalised groups. They also emphasised the importance of transforming audiences from passive recipients into active participants – a perspective that made me reflect on the museum’s role in fostering public dialogue and co-creation.

Another session that stood out to me was “Generic Learning Outcome Framework – A New Sensory Engagement Outcome”, which introduced an improved framework to better support audiences with special educational needs. The speakers pointed out that inclusive learning strategies go beyond technological adjustments, they require a fundamental shift in how we think about engagement and accessibility.

In terms of technological innovation, I attended the session titled “How do you use AI technology ethically for supporting school visits?” at the Museums + Heritage Show 2025. Munro shared insights from their team’s pilot project on the MyLearning.org platform, which explores how AI can be integrated with trusted content to support lesson planning and curriculum development. AI is capable of rapidly generating structured plans and suggesting meaningful content links, but crucially, final editorial control remains with the teacher—ensuring a balance between educational quality and ethical responsibility. He also presented the technological framework and assessment standards used during implementation and openly discussed challenges they encountered, including verifying content accuracy, ensuring transparency in data usage, and addressing varying levels of teacher acceptance. This session provided a realistic view of AI’s potential in cultural education, and more importantly, highlighted the need to strike a careful balance between efficiency and responsibility.

Several other sessions echoed the theme of sustainable learning strategies. For example, in “Working Together: Embedding Creative Health and Wellbeing Work in Museums,” speakers illustrated how cultural institutions are integrating creative wellbeing practices into their learning programmes, focusing not only on exhibitions, but also on the emotional and psychological experiences of their audiences. It made me realise that museums, as public spaces, can play a proactive role in promoting environmental awareness and social responsibility.

Additionally, I participated in the “Learning and Outreach Networking Session” held in the Ambience Networking Lounge, a networking event designed for professionals working in education, engagement and outreach. I had the opportunity to connect with museum practitioners from across the UK and abroad, exchanging insights on topics such as community-based cultural projects, multilingual interpretation and cross-cultural education. These interactions expanded my international perspective and deepened my understanding of the role of museum educators.

While working with GEM, I also explored a wide range of museum-related organisations and products, from BSL accessibility tools, exhibition lighting and framing services, to storage solutions, digital archiving and interactive devices such as bone-conduction headsets and portable audio guides. I also encountered creative museum merchandise and tech service providers. These observations further reinforced my understanding of GEM’s core value: “connecting and learning together,” and its relevance in the broader ecosystem of museum practice.

This experience not only enhanced my understanding of GEM’s values, belonging, collaboration, professionalism, and generosity, but also helped me realise that the value of cultural heritage lies not only in its preservation, but in its continued activation and reinterpretation. Whether through technological innovation or public participation, the Museums + Heritage Show provided forward-thinking answers and inspiration for “the future of museums.”

Moreover, I gained valuable academic insights from the show. For instance, in Jonathan Munro’s talk on ethical AI use for school visits, their pilot project on MyLearning.org made me realise that AI can serve not only individual visitors but also systematically support educational institutions, for example, in planning and integrating school visits into the curriculum. It also reminded me that preserving human oversight and setting clear ethical boundaries is critical in designing AI applications, an idea that directly informs my research on “audience-led, AI-assisted” interactive systems. Furthermore, this project inspired me to think about how AI systems can be effectively combined with trusted content resources to deepen the interactive experience while ensuring accuracy and educational value. These insights will greatly support the development of my dissertation on AI-powered interactive models and implementation pathways in museum contexts.